1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of information handling system product and service offerings, and more particularly to a system and method for customizing information handling system product and service offerings based on usage profiles.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems have become powerful tools for accomplishing enterprise and personal tasks. Increased processing power built into portable housings having wireless networking means that an end user can perform complex tasks nearly anywhere. Greater networking bandwidth and storage capacity as well virtualization tools means that an information technology department has tremendous flexibility in adjusting processing needs and reacting to processing, networking or storage issues as the issues arise. One reason for the wide acceptance of information handling systems is that each information handling system can have a hardware or software configuration that is directed towards a particular task or set of tasks. Customization helps to ensure that goals set for a particular information technology function will succeed because the hardware and software components of customized information handling systems have the capabilities needed to meet the goals. Often, individuals and enterprises have information handling systems built-to-order with particular tasks kept in mind That is, an end user selects particular hardware and software components for an information handling system order and then a manufacturer builds the information handling systems to the specifications of the end user's order. An order can specify an number of hardware and software components, such as the processor speed, the operating system, amount and speed of volatile memory (like DRAM), the amount and speed of non-volatile memory (like a hard disk drive or a solid state drive), networking components, display quality, etc . . .
One difficulty with information handling systems is that the sometimes dizzying array of available component configurations often leads to end user confusion regarding the best component for the end user to select. An end user can keep the price of an information handling system lower by including less-capable components, however, the system may not perform as well as an end user desires. An end user can purchase a system with more capable components, however, often the end user does not fully utilize the capabilities of the components so that the extra cost of more capable components is not justified. For example, an end user who stores photos and videos on a desktop information handling system might select a large and somewhat more expensive hard disk drive. The same user might rely on a portable information handling system for traveling and word processing, thus having less need for large quantities of non-volatile storage. Rather than spending extra money on more hard disk storage, such a user might get more value from a solid state drive that offers less storage but more rapid start-ups. Given the large number of available component choices, end users often have difficulty deciding on the particular components that best suit their needs in an information handling system.